By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah GNA
Tema, March 12, GNA – Women’s economic and professional roles in Ghana have evolved significantly across generations, transitioning from dominance in informal trade to increased participation in formal education.
Ms Ama Mensah, a 32-year-old Information Technology (IT) specialist, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that her journey into technology was shaped long before she ever touched a computer.
Ms Mensah said her ambitions were shaped by two powerful journeys: entrepreneurship and education, yet her own career path would lead into an entirely different field.
She said technology might look very different from fish trading, but the determination is the same, adding that, women in every generation find ways to adapt, work hard, and create opportunities for those who come after them.
“My grandmother was a very strong woman; she did not have formal education, but she was a businesswoman. She used to travel and supply smoked fish from Ghana to traders in neighbouring countries, and she taught us that women could work hard and build something for themselves.”
According to her, her grandmother traded in smoked fish in the late 1970s across borders, which was one of the few economic opportunities available to women who lacked formal education.
She said the women purchased fish from coastal communities, processed them through traditional smoking methods, and transported the goods to markets in Togo and Côte d’Ivoire.
She said despite the physical demands and financial risks of the trade, the business sustained the family and enabled the next generation to pursue education, stating that “my grandmother always said education was the one thing she wished she had.”
Ms Mensah said that her mother took a different path; with the support of the family’s trading income, she trained as a teacher and spent more than two decades in the classroom.
She mentioned that her mother always said teaching offered stability and social respect at a time when the Ghanaian education sector was expanding, adding that the profession represented both a personal achievement and a break from the uncertainty of informal trade.
She said after completing secondary school, she developed an interest in computers and digital technology and later studied information technology at university and now works in the growing technology sector, supporting software systems for a private firm.
“The world is changing quickly; my grandmother traded fish across borders. My mother taught students in the classroom, and I now work with computers and digital systems that connect people globally,” she stated.
According to her, over the past decades, increased access to education has enabled more women to move from informal economic activities into professional and technical careers, adding that she had never wanted to venture into a sector that was physically demanding like that of her grandmother’s.
She added that pursuing a course in technology was the greatest choice she made, as the salary she believes was more appreciable than most jobs.
Ms Mensah urged other women to endeavour to pursue studies in the technical field.
GNA
Edited by Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo/Linda Asante Agyei